CORONAVIRUS measures in the UK have been "playing catch-up" with the rest of the world, claimed Nobel Prize in genetics winner Sir Paul Nurse, who accused Boris Johnson's Government of failing to show clear leadership during the Covid-19 crisis.

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Sir Paul Nurse, chief executive of the Francis Crick Institute, said the country had been "increasingly playing catch-up" and scientists and politicians should lay out "a much clearer publicly-presented strategy" to tackle the coronavirus pandemic. Asked about the country's approach to the outbreak on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, he said: "I'm not sure we are quite getting it right."

"I'm not completely convinced that we are actually being quite clear in having good leadership," he said.

He added: "The question I keep asking myself is: Do we have a proper Government system in here that can combine tentative knowledge, scientific knowledge, with political action?

"And the question I'm constantly asking myself is: Who is actually in charge of the decisions? Who is developing the strategy and the operation and implementation of that strategy?

"Is it ministers? Is it Public Health England? The National Health Service? The Office for Life Sciences, Sage (Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies)? I don't know, but more importantly, do they know?"

Asked about the use of quarantine, Sir Paul suggested more evidence was needed about the infectiousness of people with coronavirus and how this was revealed through symptoms.

He said: "Because for a long time it's been clear that people without symptoms can be infected and therefore be infectious to other people and yet in the hospitals and in the care homes we haven't been testing such people.

"So we have been allowing people, care workers, to be in the ward, who are potentially infected, infecting patients, infecting themselves, and as a consequence making hospitals potentially unsafe places to be.

"We have to see a changed strategy there that is reliant upon the real evidence."

He continued: "I don't see clarity in the public sphere about these sorts of arguments that need to be shown to the public so that they feel actually they are safe when they go to hospital."

Sir Paul said there was "another mistake" when the testing strategy was put in place.

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Sir Paul said he did not think there should be a formal inquiry into the UK's response to the outbreak now, but more "openness" was needed, alongside a "greater debate in the public domain".

Responding to the criticism, Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis said he "wouldn't agree" with Sir Paul, explaining that the Government has followed "the best advice that is out there".

He said: "I think what we have seen through this actually is we as a Government have been very clear with people, very transparent with people.

"The Prime Minister himself has been very clear - the Prime Minister ultimately is responsible.

"We do follow the best advice that is out there from both the scientific advisers, our chief medical advisers and the teams there but ultimately it is the ministers who make decisions.

"And I think that is one of the things we have seen throughout this process, is our working to ensure we get as much information to people as we can to ensure that people understand what we can all do to play our part in keeping the R level down."